The Glorious Deeds of Purna: A Translation and Study of the Purnavadana

The avadana literature is perhaps the largest corpus of Sanskrit Buddhist texts. It is also an extensive body of ancient and medieval Indian story-literature. By providing an annotated translation of, and applying the methods of literary criticism to, a first-century account of the life of the saint Purna, this study introduces the reader to the richness and complexity of a genre which has played an essential role in Buddhist self-understanding for over two thousand years.